Oxfam charity’s research found that the combined wealth of 1% of the world’s wealthiest people will soon be more than the total wealth of the rest of the world’s population put together. The study, titled “Wealth: Having it All and Wanting More”, shows that the share owned by the 1% of the world’s elite increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% in 2014 ane expectations that, at the current rate, this level will rise to 50% of the world’s wealth by 2016.

The same study showed that one in nine people do not have enough to eat and more than a billion people still live on less than $1.25 a day. At the other end of the spectrum, members of the global elite had an average wealth of $2.7 million per adult in 2014.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: “Do we really want to live in a world where the one percent own more than the rest of us combined? The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast. In the past 12 months we have seen world leaders from President Obama to Christine Lagarde talk more about tackling extreme inequality but we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk. It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world.”

“Business as usual for the elite isn’t a cost free option – failure to tackle inequality will set the fight against poverty back decades. The poor are hurt twice by rising inequality – they get a smaller share of the economic pie and because extreme inequality hurts growth, there is less pie to be shared around,” said Byanyima.

Oxfam made headlines at Davos last year with the revelation that the 85 richest people on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent (3.5 billion people). That figure is now 80 – a dramatic fall from 388 people in 2010. The wealth of the richest 80 doubled in cash terms between 2009-14.

The international agency is calling on government to adopt a seven point plan to tackle inequality:

* Clamp down on tax dodging by corporations and rich individuals
* Invest in universal, free public services such as health and education
* Share the tax burden fairly, shifting taxation from labour and consumption towards capital and wealth
* Introduce minimum wages and move towards a living wage for all workers
* Introduce equal pay legislation and promote economic policies to give women a fair deal
* Ensure adequate safety-nets for the poorest, including a minimum income guarantee
* Agree a global goal to tackle inequality.

20 of the world’s wealthiest: 

1. Bill Gates: 76 bln dollars – Microsoft

2. Carlos Slim Helu and family: 72 bln dollars – Telecom

3. Amancio Ortega: 64 bln dollars – Zara

4. Warren Buffett: 58.2 bln dollars – Berkshire Hathaway

5. Larry Ellison: 48 bln dollars- Oracle

6. Charles Koch: 40 bln dollars – Diversified

7. David Koch: 40 gln dollars – Diversified

8. Sheldon Adelson: 38 bln dollars – Casinos

9. Christy Walton & family: 36.7 bln dollars – Wal-mart

10. Jim Walton: 34.7 bln dollars – Wal-Mart

11. Liliane Bettencourt and family: 34.5  bln dollars – L’Oreal

12. Stefan Persson: 34.4  bln dollars – H&M

13. Alice Walton: 34.3 bln dollars – Wal-Mart

14. S. Robson Walton: 34.2  bln dollars – Wal-Mart

15. Bernard Arnault and family: 33.5 bln dollars – LVMH

16. Michael Bloomberg: 33 bln dollars – Bloomberg LP

17. Larry Page: 32.3 bln dollars – Google

18. Jeff Bezos: 32 bln dollars – Amazon.com

19. Sergey Brin: 31.8 bln dollars – Google

20. Li Ka-shing: 31 bln dollars – Diversified